Galaxy Of Stars '08 Convention
On November 29,IKV Bayou Serpent CO Ri'Par and intelligence officer
Rhiana Koval attended the Galaxy Of Stars convention in New Orleans.
The guest was Chase Masterson aka Leeta from DS9. I had not planned
to attend this event but after several personal emails from Chase
asking me to come I decided I'd go. We traveled 250 of the 300 miles
in pouring rain and arrived around 3pm. After checking in,I called
the con director,James Jackson, to let him know we had arrived. We
had only bought tickets for the daytime events and were going to
drive back home Saturday afternoon rather than stay another full
night at the hotel. James worked out a deal with us. If we'd stay for
the full show he'd let us stay in his hotel room for free. We couldnt
pass that up and upgraded our tickets by phone. We went downstairs to
eat and as we were leaving,bumped into James bringing Chase in from
the airport. She was extremely friendly,shaking our hands and telling
us she was glad that we made it. We left to let them settle in and to
get some sleep.
Saturday brought the con. This was by far the smallest con I've ever
been to but that just gave us more time to hang out with Chase. We
got our autographs and photo ops out of the way and watched "Of Gods
And Men", an internet Trek movie directed by Tim Russ with Chase
playing an Orion slave girl.After the film,she did her Q&A session
and introduced me to the crowd,saying "the famous Shane is here
today". I guess "Ri'Par" was too much to remember. Other examples of
her work were later shown as we hung out with her both at the con and
the celebrity lunch. Around 5pm I went back to the room and cleaned
up to get ready for the dinner,desert,and caberet party. Everyone had
some drinks with myself having bloodwine. I offered Chase some but
she didnt drink,preferring a non-alcoholic beer. Chase then sang
songs from her 3 CD's,many of which were done on DS9 by James Darren
aka Vic Fontaine. Halfway through the set she asked the crowd for a
volunteer and being a Klingon,I jumped up. She brought me onstage and
serenated me to "You'd Be Surprised" by Irving Berlin. I have to say
that Chase in my lap with my head on her shoulder wasn't a bad thing!
At the end of the set she was almost in tears by the love she felt
from all of us. After the show was over she stayed and gave everyone
1 free autograph and photo op. I bought a CD and she threw a second
one in for free. We all laughed and talked with her way past the end
of the con,especially when she inhaled helium from a nearby balloon
and imitated a Feddie Captain. If you ever get the chance to see her
then do so. She's great and still smoking hot!
